The waves crashed violently against the shore.
“AAAAAH!”
The fierce clash between Apollo and Monkey D.
Dragon came to an abrupt halt as several screams echoed from the night sky.
The two separated at once, each knocking the other back before looking toward the source of the cries.
Watching figures plummet from the sky above the island’s center, Apollo burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!
None of your men are capable of doing something like that, Garp’s son.”
“It must be Lake.
He must’ve finished off Karasu and is slaughtering your Marines right now!”
Dragon remained calm.
With a wave of his hand, a powerful gust caught one of the falling figures and carried it safely toward him.
When the body landed before him, he saw that it was a pirate.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Perhaps.”
“I did recruit a rather capable new Marine just a couple of days ago.”
Apollo’s smile disappeared the moment he recognized the pirate lying at Dragon’s feet.
What’s going on?
Lake should be massacring those Marines by now.
He just mastered Armament Haki.
Karasu shouldn’t have been able to beat him…
A bad feeling began to rise inside him.
More pirates came crashing down one after another.
Every single one of them was one of his own men.
Apollo’s expression grew increasingly grim.
He immediately pulled out a Den Den Mushi.
Dragon made no move to stop him.
He also wanted to know what had happened inside the island.
Purururu…
Purururu…
The Den Den Mushi connected.
But at that very moment…
Another Den Den Mushi nearby began ringing.
Both men turned toward the harbor entrance.
From the darkness of the street, Arthur walked slowly toward them.
In one hand he held the connected Den Den Mushi.
In the other, he dragged an unconscious pirate whose face was swollen with fist marks.
“…Lake?”
Apollo instinctively called out his lieutenant’s name.
But the figure before him clearly wasn’t Lake.
“I’ve always believed…”
Arthur spoke calmly as he approached.
“…that if I remain kind, this world will show me a little less hostility in return.”
Dragon’s eyes lit up.
“Arthur!”
“What’s the situation inside the island?”
Apollo, meanwhile, stared at the Den Den Mushi in Arthur’s hand.
The veins on his forehead bulged.
“Why do you have Lake’s Den Den Mushi, you little Marine?!”
“Hm?”
“You mean that giant pirate with all the muscles?”
Arthur scratched his head.
“I beat him until he was covered in wounds.”
“He’s still alive, though.”
With that, he casually tossed the Den Den Mushi through the air.
Apollo caught it.
After confirming it really belonged to Lake—
The man landed with a heavy thud at Apollo’s feet.
“I’ve already knocked out almost all of your men.”
Arthur slung his rifle over his shoulder and pulled out a wanted poster from his backpack.
Reading it aloud, he said,
“‘Beast’ Apollo…”
“370,000,000 Berries.”
“That’s you, right?”
“Arthur!”
“Don’t let your guard down!”
Dragon couldn’t help shouting.
Only someone who had fought Apollo personally knew how dangerous he really was.
The pirate still hadn’t revealed his full strength.
Arthur paid no attention.
His entire body trembled with excitement.
After witnessing the tragedy throughout the town, he wanted nothing more than to end this battle as quickly as possible so he could devote himself entirely to mastering Rokushiki.
“Every second this battle continues…”
“…more people die.”
“The Marines already have the upper hand inside the island.”
He looked straight at Dragon.
“If we defeat this guy…”
“…the battle’s over, right, Colonel Dragon ?”
Since he had chosen to join the Marines to learn Rokushiki, then as a Marine…
Protecting civilians was now his duty.
The battle had also made him realize exactly how much innocent blood Sakazuki’s large-scale bombardment must have caused.
He had never liked Sakazuki before.
Now he disliked him even more.
“Rankyaku!”
Arthur unleashed a flying slash with a powerful kick.
Apollo was even larger than Lake.
Before they had even exchanged blows, Arthur could already tell they weren’t on the same level.
“So…”
Apollo’s face darkened.
“…you defeated Lake.”
He casually shattered Arthur’s Rankyaku with a single punch before it could even reach him.
“That’s right.”
Arthur answered quietly.
His heart sank.
The same Rankyaku that had seriously injured Lake…
…had been destroyed effortlessly.
Apollo vanished.
Almost instantly—
He appeared right in front of Arthur.
The murderous intent in his eyes was enough to freeze anyone in place.
Just like his epithet—
Beast.
His fist exploded forward like a bolt of thunder.
The force alone detonated the surrounding air, creating a violent shockwave.
“Holy—?!”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
He desperately tried to dodge.
Too slow.
He could only grit his teeth and throw his own punch.
BOOM!!
The two fists collided.
Within only a few seconds…
Arthur’s strength was completely overwhelmed.
Apollo’s superior physical power, enhanced by Armament Haki, crushed straight through Arthur’s defense.
“His Haki…
and even his raw strength… Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
are stronger than mine!”
Time seemed to freeze.
All Arthur could see…
…was Apollo’s jet-black Haki-coated fist.
Then—
A gentle wind reached him first.
Dragon’s wind condensed into a protective wall between the two.
BANG!
Apollo’s fist shattered the wind barrier before slamming directly into Arthur.
“Consider this repayment…”
“…for what you did to my men.”
Arthur spat out a mouthful of blood.
His body was driven violently into the shoreline.
At that instant—
A raging hurricane erupted.
Countless blades of wind tore into Apollo from every direction.
“Haki alone isn’t enough to defeat me.”
Dragon’s voice rang across the battlefield.
“I have Haki now as well, Apollo…”
“…but defeating you won’t even require it.”
“My Devil Fruit is enough.”
After learning the situation inside the island and seeing Arthur seriously injured, Dragon stopped holding back.
He unleashed the full power of his Devil Fruit.
A colossal tornado formed over the sea surrounding Lionheart Island.
Under Dragon’s control…
The massive storm transformed into several enormous serpentine dragons made entirely of wind.
.
They roared toward Apollo.
“Damn you…”
“…Garp’s son!”
The terrifying storm shook every ship anchored around the nearby islands.
Masts snapped apart.
Entire pirate ships rocked violently in the raging winds.
“You can command the winds…”
“…That Devil Fruit was supposed to belong to us!”
Apollo stared in disbelief at the apocalyptic storm Dragon had created.
Even with Armament Haki covering his body…
He couldn’t withstand attacks striking every inch of him simultaneously.
He could only reinforce himself with Haki while desperately searching for an opening to break through to Dragon.
“Damn you!”
“Garp’s son!”
The wind dragons smashed into his body again and again.
Apollo roared in pain.
“You’ve used this much stamina!”
“Aren’t you worried about hurting the civilians on the nearby islands?!”
In theory…
Haki countered Devil Fruits.
But theory and reality weren’t the same.
If one’s Haki wasn’t strong enough…
A powerful Devil Fruit would still dominate the battlefield.
Dragon’s face grew even colder.
“Save your lies.”
“You’re nothing more than an evil pirate who enjoys slaughter.”
“Your era is over…”
“…remnant of the Rocks Pirates.”
The wind dragons howled across the sea.
Everyone on the surrounding islands looked on in shock.
Towering waves rose like a tsunami and surged toward the neighboring islands.
The destructive scale of Dragon’s attack was no less terrifying than Sakazuki’s Great Eruption..